1. Field of the Invention
The subject invention provides a system and a method for generating a database of certified animal information, particularly trophy animals such as trophy game animals and then outputting information from the database to interested individuals, including providing a searchable database of relevant certified statistics regarding animals. Additionally, the subject invention provides a social media platform capable of allowing interested individuals to display and rank trophy animals.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Outdoor activities such as hunting and fishing account for a large sector of recreational spending around the globe. Americans spent an estimated 42 billion dollars on fishing related expenses and 22.9 billion dollars on hunting related expenses in 2011. Also in 2011, approximately 28 million Americans purchased fishing licenses and approximately 14.9 million Americans purchased hunting licenses. Every year many of these outdoor enthusiasts take to the field or water with the hope of taking a trophy game. Whether it is a 12 point white tail, a 10 pound largemouth bass, a drake canvasback duck, or any other animal, the taking of a trophy game represents a cherished highpoint for many outdoor enthusiasts and embodies their accomplishments as a hunter or fisherman. Similarly, bird watching, chasing, and sightings of rare or unique birds accounts for a significant amount of money each year.
Current bulletin boards, webpages, state record listings, and magazines fail to provide a convenient and modern way for outdoors enthusiasts to showcase and compare their trophy animal harvests, particularly with some measure of authenticity. Many trophy animal listings are unreliable and fail to provide certified or verifiable information, resulting in inconsistent and unbelievable data. Additionally, no service presently available offers a convenient process for displaying and certifying the authenticity of the trophy animal harvest over a period of time, for each individual outdoor enthusiast.
Other services, such as those offered by state game agencies, Boone and Crocket, and Buckmaster all require an extensive certification process that is burdensome for the hunter and the certifier alike. For example, in Michigan, a major deer hunting state, there are only three Buckmaster scorers. This means that a deer hunter in Michigan may have to drive long distances or many hours with their trophy game to have their trophy deer certified and placed on the Buckmaster website. Additionally, these services fail to present an easy to use user interface that allows an individual to quickly search and view the most relevant information.
Due to the current burdensome and inconvenient certification process, use of existing game animal certification services is limited, with only a small percentage of outdoorsmen providing verifiable information on trophy game harvests. These services also over-emphasize collection of physical data and fail to collect adequate information concerning the circumstances under which the trophy game was taken. In addition, few people enter each animal they kill during a season due to such burdensome requirements. The lack of outdoorsmen providing information to the services results in few entries from other outdoorsmen who may find the service to be unreliable or generally unused.
Due to the limited number of certified trophy game entries stored on such databases and inadequacies in the information collected, currently available services are not able to recognize meaningful trends in trophy game activity and movement. No service presently available to the relevant market is able to rank and output to the market trends in trophy game activity based on a variety of factors. Additionally, these services fail to present an easy to use user interface that allows an individual to quickly search and view the information that is most relevant to them.
In addition, few individuals enter each animal they harvest during a season due to such burdensome requirements and most individuals at most visit the sites only one to two times a year to view the rankings. Accordingly, the minimal traffic associated with these websites is extremely light, and is nonrecurring, thereby preventing them from functioning as a viable social media platform with which fellow outdoorsmen may interact in a virtual environment.